Commentary: And the big fool said to push on

 

The Bennington Banner

By Andrew Schoerke

02/11/2015

 

"We were on maneuvers in-a Looziana,

One night by the light of the moon.

The Captain told us to ford a river,

That's how it all begun.

We were knee deep in the Big Muddy,

But the big fool said to push on."

 

Pete Seeger wrote his song "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy," first verse above, in 1967 as an allegory against the war in Vietnam. The lyrics describe the hubris of a stubborn Captain, "The Big Fool," who commands a company of recruits to follow him in trying to cross a swollen river, "The Big Muddy." Succeeding verses describe the water as "waist deep" then "chest deep" then "neck deep" until, finally, "we heard a gurgling cry and the captain's helmet floated by."

 

Today the same mindset continues in the unending Global War On Terror. In 2001, following the 9/11 tragedy, Congress authorized President George W. Bush to use all "necessary and appropriate force" against those whom he determined "planned, authorized, committed or aided in" the attacks, or who harbored said persons or groups. The U.S. invaded Afghanistan to eliminate the al Qaeda perpetrators of 9/11 and the Taliban government that harbored them. But the al Qaeda slipped into Pakistan and the Taliban became an ever-increasing insurgency. After 13 years of war and two presidents, our Afghanistan policy is an abject failure with 2,356 American military dead and billions of dollars wasted in support of corrupt governments — "and the big fool said to push on.

 

The Big Muddy War On Terror got deeper when we invaded Iraq to eliminate weapons of mass destruction and al Qaeda terrorists only to soon discover there was neither. The ensuing eight-year war cost the lives of 4,468 American military, 32,323 American wounded, over 300,000 with post traumatic stress disorder and trillions of dollars. Each year we were told that soon we would win, echoing the words of the Captain: "Just keep slogging and we'll soon be on dry land."

The Iraq War devastated that country killing between 100,000 and 200,000 Iraqis leaving many civilians and former military and government officials with a deep-seated hatred of Americans. From this disaster, extremist Sunni Muslims coalesced to form the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, ISIS, or ISIL as it is sometimes called. Since it emerged last spring, it has routed the Iraqi army, captured large areas of Iraq and Syria and slaughtered thousands of Shia Muslims who would not convert to its perverted Islamic ideology. To help achieve a fundamentalist Muslim state, thousands of Sunni militants from around the world are flocking to join ISIS. To counter them, and because of the atrocities committed by ISIS against Shia Muslims, thousands of armed Muslims from Iran's Quds Force and Revolutionary Guard are pouring into Iraq to fight ISIS.

 

In an effort "to degrade and destroy ISIL, President Obama, last September, ordered U.S. air strikes against it and began ordering 4,500 American troops back to Iraq to advise and train the Iraqi army and Kurdish militia. Iraq Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi, has requested billions in American aid to fight ISIS even as the New York Times reported that it was the entrenched corruption of the Iraq military that led to its collapse in the face of advancing ISIS forces.

 

Another war is not the answer. Alternative ways must be found to defeat ISIS, including containing it, cutting its funding, stopping its supplies, denying it the oil markets it needs to survive and enlisting the support of Arab countries and Muslim clergy. Although President Obama has said that no U.S. troops will be used in direct combat against ISIS, General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified last fall that "the military is actively considering the direct use of troops." In the event that such action occurs, military equipment from the stand-down in Afghanistan is being stored in Kuwait ready to use.

 

In his State of the Union Address, President Obama "call[ed] on Congress to pass a resolution authorizing the use of force against ISIL" noting that "the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria will be a long-term campaign that will have both successes and setbacks." The record of the 2001 authorization speaks for itself, characterized by "mission creep," "unanticipated consequences," thousands of American dead, trillions of dollars wasted and the enmity of millions Muslims.

 

"And the big fool said to push on."

 

Andrew Schoerke of Shaftsbury is a member of the Will Miller Green Mountain Chapter of Veterans For Peace.